Vehicle door with built-in vault



July 9, 1957 l. c. GEHMAN VEHICLE DOOR WITH BUILT-IN VAULT Filed March 8, 1955 Fig. l

Wu M M M NH Ivan 6. Gehman INVENTOR.

BY MM Fig.2

United Satates Patent VEHICLE DOOR WITH BUILT-IN VAULT Ivan C. Gehman, Mohnton, Pa.

Application March 8, 1955, Serial No. 492,919

1 Claim. (Cl. 109-50) The present invention relates to a vehicle door which is thought to be an improvement over and beyond the ordinarily constructed door in that it is equipped with a built-in vault, that is, a vault which is suitably arranged and constructed to accessibly and handily accommodate important documents and papers, bonds and, wherever necessary or desired, money.

In carrying out the principles of the invention, one lower corner portion of the vehicle door is provided with a simple, economical and reliable vault. This is preferably supported by the lower vertical frame member and is characterized by a case or housing which is fixed to the frame member and extends into the available space and constitutes a compartment for a complemental slidably mounted drawer.

Novelty is also predicated upon a vault which is substantially water-tight, fireproof and, having a key controlled lock, is also substantially tamperproof.

Then, too, novelty is predicated upon a door with a built-in vault and wherein the front wall of the sliding door is mounted flush with the cooperating surface of the front vertical frame member and is indented and provided with a handy drawer pull.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional type automobile or vehicle door, with a portion of the lower corner of the interior or inside wall of the door broken away and showing the vault, the vault appearing in section and elevation;

Figure 2 is an enlarged central sectional view through the vault; and

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken approximately on the plane of the line 3--3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

With further reference to Figure 1, the conventional automobile or vehicle door is denoted by the numeral 6 and is characterized by a frame 8, the vertical front mem ber of which is denoted at 10. The numeral 12 designates a suitable latch. The hinges on the rear vertical frame member 14 are denoted by the numerals 16. The sliding glass or equivalent windowpane is denoted at 18, and the ventilator at 20. Other details are shown, but need not be referred to here. It seems advisable, however, to mention the space 22 existing between the inner wall 24 and outer wall 26 of the door. It is in this space, in fact, the lower right hand corner portion, that the improved vault is installed and appropriately mounted. As already touched upon, the vault is characterized by a fixedly mounted interiorly arranged case or housing, and this is here denoted by the numeral 28. It is of rectangular form and horizontally disposed and has imperforate walls and is open only at the front. The open front end 30, as shown in Figure 2, registers with and is welded in place in an opening 32 which is provided therefor in the frame member 10. The drawer is denoted by the numeral 34 and fits completely and snugly in the case when it is retracted or in its in position. The side walls may be provided with clearance notches at 36, if desired. The front Wall 38 has an indentation 40 providing a pocket for a suitable drawer pull 42 which is hinged and is normally in an out-of-the-way position so as not to interfere with the opening and closing of the door. The numeral 44 designates a suitable key controlled lock with the key access means at 46 and with the key controlled locking bolt at 48 fitting into a keeper hole provided in the keeper plate 50 fixed to the top wall 52 of the aforementioned case, all as shown in Figure 2.

The drawer may be opened and closed in an obvious manner and locked and unlocked, as desired. Its position and function is clear from the drawings. A more extended description is thought to be unnecessary.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

An automobile door construction comprising, in combination, a frame embodying frame members and complemental walls fixed to said members and providing a substantially inaccessible space between said members and walls, one of said frame members serving as a front vertical member and being provided with a vault accommodating opening; a safety deposit vault confined in the space between said walls and embodying a rigid case open at its outer end, said open end being in registry with the vault opening in said member and having the outer end portions of its walls fixedly welded to cooperating marginal portions of the frame members surrounding said opening, and a drawer normally confined in said case and accessibly slidahle through said open end; said drawer embodying a vertical front wall flush with said vertical frame member and being provided with an indentation projecting into said drawerwand constituting a well, a drawer pull hingedly mounted and normally confined in an out-of-the-way position within the confines of said well; and key controlled locking means carried by the front wall of said drawer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,261,046 McNamee Apr. 2, 1918 1,485,387 Goldsmith et al. m Mar. 4, 1924 1,642,313 Smith ept. 13, 1927 1,930,573 Weatherford Oct. 17, 1933 2,019,674 Graebner Nov. 5, 1935 2,139,909 Park Dec. 13, 1938 2,410,475 Anderson 1' Nov. 5, 1946 2,629,546 Van Lahr Feb. 24, 1953 

